USA > Alaska > Alaska: its history and resources, gold fields, routes and scenery > Part 10
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There is generally but one mast to the oomiak, and this stands about one-third of the length back from the bow, and when there is no wind it is taken down and laid in the . boat. Sometimes, when the wind is fair, a second but smaller mast is placed about the same distance from the stern of the boat, but they are only used in the largest oomiaks. The lower end of the mast is inserted in a slot between timbers in the bottom of the boat, and guys extend from near the top to both sides and also to both bow and steril.
One not used to the oomiak is in constant dread of moving about, for fear that if he should step between the framework he will make a hole in the skin, for the water is plainly seen through it. The natives pay little attention to where they step in going from one part of the boat to another, and although their feet will depress the skin two or three inches, there is no danger of its giving way, and the very spot they are standing on would doubtless hold up a ton.
The kyak used by the Eskimo is similar in construction and style to the skin canoe or bidarka found among the natives along the southern coast of Alaska. It is not much used by the coast Eskimo, as they do most of their traveling by water in the oomiak, but those in the interior use theni to greater extent in navigating on the rivers and lakes, they being so light that they can carry them about with very little trouble. They are gen- erally the single-hatch kyak, but occasionally one is found with two or three holes and capable of carrying as many persons.
An article of clothing that is indispensable among the Eskimo is the " kar pee tuk " or rain coat. It is made from the entrails of the seal or walrus, strips about three inches wide being sewed together and made so as to slip over the head like an artiger. It is identical in shape and made the same as the " kamalika " worn by the natives along the southern coast of the territory. If care- fully sewed it is water-tight, and will weigh but a few ounces. It is rather a neat and tasteful looking garment when dry, and rustles like silk, but when wet has a slick or slimy appearance strongly suggestive of the part of the animal from which it is made.
A mark which serves as a good means of determining the sexes is that worn by the females, which consists of three or five lines about an eiglith of an inch wide on the chin, which resem- bles tattooing made with India ink. Instead of pricking it in, a
HERD OF REINDEER, LYING DOWN.
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ESKIMO HABITS AND CUSTOMS.
sharp instrument is drawn over the skin until blood comes, and wood ashes are then rubbed in. This practice is almost universal, and is usually put on when a girl reaches about the age of eight years.
Among the men the practice of wearing labrets is common, though not so universally adopted as tattooing among the women. These labrets are worn on either side of the lower lip, an aper- ture having been punctured with some pain and much care for the purpose. The most popular style is about a half-inch in diameter, but sometimes they reach the enormous size of an inch. They are usually made of highly polished ivory with a colored bead in the center, and are occasionally worn on both sides of the chin. Glass stoppers are much sought after for this purpose, but not much worn on account of being difficult to obtain.
The tattooing by the women and wearing of labrets by the men have no significance other than being considered an adorn- ment for the face. Some of the women have the middle latch of the nose pierced, from which beads are suspended, but they are considered troublesome and are being abandoned.
The favorite manner of having the ears pierced by the women is just above the end, from which two or three strings of beads are suspended, passing from one ear to the other under the chin. The younger women wear beads wound around their hair, which is first braided on both sides, and occasionally bracelets and neck- laces of beads are worn.
The men seldom tattoo their arms or hands, and their only peculiarity of dress is wearing the labret and shaving the crowns of their heads.
Plurality of wives is a practice that is by no means common, and when it does occur it is among men who, by virtue of their possessing more property than their neighbors, are able to sup- port more than one wife. When the custom prevails, there appears to be no disturbing or quarrelsome disposition, and if there is any, the aggrieved woman bottles her wrath, doubtless from fear that she will be turned out to shift for herself, which is more to be dreaded than any pang of envy or jealousy she might experience.
The Arctic Alaska Eskimo is, physically, a fine specimen of the human race. While as a rule they will not average over five feet six or eight inches in height, occasionally a six-footer is found, but he is a very rare exception. They are not by any
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means dwarfish in stature or slow and sluggish in their move- ments; neither are they dull and stupid intellectually. The casual observer might think them so, for they appear subdued and reserved when among the whites; but when away from them and left to act freely, they are bright, cheerful and intelligent.
A stout or corpulent Eskimo is never seen. Their whole life is one which calls into play every muscle of the body, and they are distinctly an athletic race. Not a pound of superfluous flesh is on their closely knitted frames, and, while their hands, lower limbs, and feet are very small, their chests and shoulders are grandly developed, and their arms are muscular and sinewy.
They are very fond of athletic sports, and football and jump- ing are practiced by them to a considerable extent. They in- dulge in many exercises that test their strength, such as pulling each other's arms when locked together, wrestling, lifting each other or heavy weights, and many such exercises that will bring into play every muscle. Many of them excel in jumping and kicking, and occasionally one is found who can kick with both feet higher than his own head, a performance that few white athletes can accomplish. Little Zaksriner, whose picture ap- pears at the opening of this chapter, performs a most wonderful feat. She clasps her hands behind her back, bending forward until her head touches the floor, and straightens up without bending her knees or unclasping her hands.
The principal amusement of the Eskimo, however, is dancing, and they indulge in it upon the slightest provocation. While the women take part in this pastime, it is with moderation, and as a sort of embellishment to the fatiguing and wearisome jump- ing about so ceaselessly practiced by the men. They seem to find the most enjoyment in blending their voices with those of the men in song. Although they do not possess the accomplish- ment to a very great extent, nor is the number of tunes very large, yet there is a harmony in them all that becomes the more pleasing to the ear the oftener they are heard.
When dancing, one or more of the men beat upon a drum made by stretching a piece of walrus entrail over a loop, and this serves as a time-marker for the participants in the dance, to which the grotesque throwing about of the arms and twisting of their bodies are made to add a pantomimic accompaniment. During all this time they jump and whirl about in the most vio- lent manner, and only stop from sheer exhaustion.
CHAPTER XII.
REINDEER.
FIVE years ago a United States revenue cutter, which was detailed by the government to patrol the Arctic, so as to render assistance to the whaling vessels if they should be nipped in the ice, had occasion to pass within sight of a little island in North Bering sea, and about forty miles from the coast, known as King's island. The man on the lookout at once noticed a boat put off from the island, loaded with people, and it immediately paddled toward the vessel. As soon as it came alongside the occupants made known to the captain that they were in a starv- ing condition. An officer was at once sent ashore, and he soon returned and reported that the people were so reduced for food that they had been living for some weeks on their Eskimo dogs. There are about 300 Eskimos on this island, and they live in huts dug into the side of a mountain, gaining an entrance and passing from one to another by means of pole ladders strung along an abrupt portion of it, and, though difficult of access, the location of the huts affords protection from the severe winds and cold of the long winter. For eight months in the year, the ice absolutely prevents the natives from having any communication with those on shore, and they only come in contact with them when they venture across the water in their skin boats during the brief summer.
A few years ago the walrus existed in large numbers through- out all this region. The whalers on their way north have hunted them so closely that they have practically exterminated then. The walrus travel in herds, pulling out on the ice, sleeping and basking in the sun, and in this condition become an easy prey to the white man with his breech-loading rifle. They are hunted by the whalers simply for their ivory tusks, a pair of them weighing from eight to twenty pounds, and having a value of only about eighty cents per pound. The ivory is used by the
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natives in the manufacture of many of their implements of the hunt and chase, their skin is used by them for tents and cover- ings for their boats and canoes, and the flesh and oil are consid- ered by them a delicacy.
Five or six years ago it was not an uncommon thing for a party of Eskimo to put out in a skin boat, and with their crude harpoon and spears, capture a whale, but the American whalers have so closely pursued them, that now they are only found a long distance north of the last settlement. During the summer of 1894, but one whale was caught by the Eskimo. A single whale will average from twelve hundred to two thousand pounds of whalebone. Its market value is from four to six dollars per pound, and it is easily seen that a whaler that captures three or four whales in a season, comes pretty near paying for his ship, outfit and the risk he runs in entering those icy fields in search of this valuable animal.
Since the advent of the whalers many natives have bought muzzle-loading rifles and ammunition from them, and have hunted the wild reindeer, killing them off without regard to age or sex, until they, too, are practically exterminated. A few years ago they roamed all through Arctic Alaska in large herds, but the past year but two of them were killed by these people. Thus it will be seen that the greed of the white man has robbed these people of two of their principal food supplies, until to-day they are left in almost a starving condition, being obliged to depend almost entirely upon the hair seal and small fish for their food supply.
Dr. Sheldon Jackson was on board the revenue cutter when it visited King's island, and on his return to Washington City, he interested the government in behalf of the starving Eskimo, and secured an appropriation for the purpose of introducing reindeer from Siberia, where they exist in immense herds. The purpose contemplated being to establish stations in different parts of Arctic Alaska, instruct the Eskimo in the manner of rearing them, and when they learn to care for them, as the natives do in Siberia, distribute them among the natives so that in the future they will have an unfailing food and clothing supply.
The author of this book was selected by the government to establish a reindeer station at Port Clarence, and in the summer of 1892, one hundred and seventy of these animals were brought over from the Siberian coast and the station duly organized.
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KINGS ISLAND, NORTH BERING SEA.
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REINDEER.
The increase the first year was nearly fifty per cent. and other reindeer have been brought over each year since, so that there are now nearly seven hundred in the herd.
Arctic Alaska is peculiarly adapted to the raising of reindeer. It consists of vast areas of tundra and moss which furnishes the reindeer with an article of food especially adapted for their suste- nance. There is little doubt that the reindeer industry will, in the near future, asssume considerable proportions, and private companies will embark in the business of raising this animal in these regions for commercial purposes, the same as stock-raising is followed in the grazing regions in many of the States of the Union. Its flesh is excellent and as palatable as the venison usually found in the market, and the hides, if cured in the proper season, are well adapted to many purposes of commerce.
The color of the fur of the reindeer is varied. Perhaps the most common is the seal-brown, and when free from other shades is decidedly rich in appearance. The fur, for such it may prop- erly be called, after it has taken on its summer coat is soft and glossy and about the length of that of the fur-seal. When taken at this season, if properly dressed, it sheds very little. The skin is soft and pliable, and but little thicker than that of the fur-seal. The reindeer skin was at one time the only one used by the natives for their clothing, tents, and everything else, but now the seal and ground squirrel skins play an important part. Reindeer skins have become a matter of luxury with the natives, and only those who deny themselves other things that they need for their comfort, wear reindeer clothing. In the country about Kotze- bue Sound occasionally a skin is secured from a wild reindeer, but is so rare that it assumes somewhat the nature of a curiosity. Thus it will be seen that, practically, all the reindeer skins used by the Alaskan Eskimo come from Siberia.
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CHAPTER XIII.
MISSIONARIES AND THEIR WORK.
IT was in 1793, that Catherine, Empress of Russia, sent mis- sionaries to Russian America to instruct the natives in religion, and at the same time, also sent convicts from Siberia to teach them agriculture. The result of this strange admixture was, that, in ten years, the number of natives was largely reduced, the outrages of unscrupulous men being so unspeakable. The lives of natives were valued no more than those of dogs ; and the spirit and life were nearly stamped out of such as survived.
The Russian proverb-"Heaven is high and the czar dis- tant"-was followed literally, and the indignities practiced upon the unfortunate natives were without limit. A few priests of the Greek faith tried to stem the tide, but succeeded in an indifferent manner. Their missions were established at different points on the coast, and even in the interior. The natives, attracted by the pomp and ceremony of the church, were attentive listeners and ob- servers. But they understood very little, and not much informa- tion was imparted, aside from teaching the Russians and half- breed children the rites of the church. Indian attendance was not encouraged in the Russian schools.
During the Russian occupancy, Fins, Swedes, and Germans were largely employed by the fur company, and a Lutheran mis- sionary was sent out to Sitka for their benefit, and a mission established in 1845. The Russian schools and churches, for the most part, were closed in 1867, when the American flag dis- placed that of Russia; and Russians and other Europeans returned to their respective countries, leaving the people "cor- rupted and degraded by their influence." The Lutheran preacher with his flock also departed, United States soldiers were placed in frontier posts, and a new set of traders took the places of the former ones.
For seventeen years Congress neglected to provide any form of civil government for her new possessions; all progress was checked, and healthful development was at a discount. This
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MISSIONARIES AND THEIR WORK.
was, no doubt, due to the bitter denunciations of the purchase of Alaska, and the ridicule heaped upon what was sneeringly referred to as "Seward's folly." Alaska was considered by the great American people as a whole to be an inhospitable region of perpetual snow and ice ; peopled by ignorant, fierce and degraded savages- notwithstanding the statement which has been so often quoted from Mr. Seward's speech on Alaska: "That it must be a fastidious person who complains of a climate in which, while the eagle delights to soar, the humming bird does not disdain to flutter."
Finally, the tales of gold discovery, coupled with the work of American and other missionaries, stimulated our government into attempting an assumption of its duty. It is an undoubted fact, that the present geographical knowledge of this vast coun- try has been largely gained through devoted missionaries, and it is also due to this class of persons that the natives have learned "that the white men are not all bad," a belief strongly implanted in their minds from their intercourse with viscious traders, and unscrupulous persons.
To Dr. Sheldon Jack- son, who first visited Alaska in 1884, is due, in a large measure, the present excellent condi- tion of the Alaska school system. He saw for him- self the degradation and ignorance which prevailed among the natives, and the virgin field offered for educational and other work. Through his efforts, Mrs. A. R. McFarland, an intrepid woman, took up the work at Fort Wrangel, where a native teacher named Philips had, un- aided, sought to elevate DR. SHELDON JACKSON. the moral status of his people, and instruct them in civil methods. Mrs. McFarland became nurse, doctor, undertaker, preacher and teacher. No marriage ceremony then existed among the natives, and poly-
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gamy, slavery and devil dances were common. Her untiring efforts did much to eradicate these evils, and further substantial progress. She left Fort Wrangel a few years later, and is now engaged in the same work at the lower portion of Prince of Wales Island, where she is loved and respected by the natives.
In 1885, Congress made an appropriation for the Alaska pub- lic school system, and Dr. Jackson was appointed General Agent of Education for the territory. In this capacity he has estab- lished schools in the most advantageous points throughout the whole territory, and the apportionment of the public moneys, among the already established church denominations, has made the missionary work of Alaska a mighty bulwark of religious strength for the welfare of the natives. Dr. Jackson is truly a pioneer christian worker. After many years of arduous duty in a number of the western territories, he sought a new field in the great Alaskan territory. He was confronted by the totally un- organized state of the country, devoid of laws or government, but his indomitable spirit was not held down by difficulties - he gained the ear of the powers at Washington - and his earnest, fervent faith is daily proved by his works. To Dr. Jackson also belongs the credit of importing reindeer from Siberia to Arctic Alaska. While in search of new fields for missionary and school work, he discovered that the Eskimos were starving. He at once interested government in the cause, and to-day the industry of domesticating reindeer in that section is an assured fact.
In this connection it is proper to add that this humane propo- sition was at first met with severe criticism and opposition on the grounds that it was impracticable and a useless expenditure of public money. And were it not that Mr. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education, gave it his hearty support and encouragement, the most beneficent act ever extended to a worthy and starving people, would not have become as it has, an assured success. And to this broad-minded and worthy official who has stood faithfully by the cause of education in Alaska, is also largely due the credit of its advancement in this far off territory.
The first school in Alaska was organized at Kadiak by Gregory Shelikoff, in 1784. And the first church building was also there erected; it still exists, but the school has been extinct for a quar- ter of a century.
The Indian industrial training schools have proved excellent institutions. Among these three deserve especial mention.
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MISSIONARIES AND THEIR WORK.
They are located at Sitka, Koserefski on the Yukon, and at New Metlakahtla. The founder and director of the latter is Mr. William Duncan, to whose work reference is made elsewhere in this volume. The school at Sitka is partially aided by this gov- ernment and is under the management of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, and that of Koserefski is under Roman Cath- olic supervision.
In these schools the boys are taught painting, carpentry, shoemaking and other trades. The girls are instructed in cook- ing, baking, sewing and all branches of plain housekeeping, the purpose in short of these schools being to civilize and chris- tianize the native children.
The number of private schools supported by various religious denominations, is nineteen, while the number supported by the government is sixteen. The Russian church, established so long ago, has many communicants, but many of them retain their belief in witchcraft, polygamy and kindred barbarous prac- tices.
The indefatigable efforts of teachers and missionaries, their absolute devotion to the work of civilization and christianizing the natives of Alaska, has been of incalculable benefit to this hitherto neglected people. There has been mental, moral and physical growth, whose influence is far-reaching, and which should command the hearty sympathy and support of all humani- tarians, irrespective of class or creed.
The Greek church, so early in the field, had a few -a very few - noble exceptions among their priests who did good work for the natives.
Father Tosi, of the Roman Catholic faith, has labored long years with devotion on the Yukon. Father Althoff after sixteen years of Alaskan labor has been appointed to work in Vancouver, British Columbia. He opened the mission work in Juneau, founded there the school and hospital of St. Anns and the Roman Catholic church. Through many discouragements and uncer- tainties, Father Althoff and the good sisters labored at Juneau, receiving nothing for their services save their frugal board and modest apparel. Upon his departure to his new field, the Searchlight, of Juneau, on February 25th, 1895, gave a most fitting tribute to his services, which concluded thus: "As a priest, the prayers of his people will go with him, as a citizen he will be greatly missed; as one of the worthy pioneers of the
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territory he will ever be held in grateful remembrance by all who feel an interest in the welfare of Alaska."
Rev. Hall Young and wife, formerly at Fort Wrangel, Pro- fessor and Mrs. John A. Tuck, of the Methodist Episcopal church, stationed at Unalaska, Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Lopp, Con- gregational, at Cape Prince of Wales, Mr. and Mrs. I. Loomis Gould, Presbyterian, at Jackson, Rev. and Mrs. E. A. Austin, Presbyterian, at Sitka, have all worked for a number of years with a devotion rarely equalled.
HARRISON R. THORNTON.
The noble family of martyrs have also been recruited within Alaskan borders. Father Juvenal, a Russian priest, was killed at Cook inlet for his interference with polygamy. Archbishop Seghers, of the Roman Catholic church, was murdered on the Yukon by a traveling companion. A teacher named Edwards was killed at Kake village in 1891, while attempting to enforce the law in regard to the landing of whisky, and in the summer of 1893, Harrison R. Thornton, a young missionary and teacher who, with his wife, was stationed at Cape Prince of Wales, was cruelly murdered by Eskimos, for which act there was no cause and which could have been prevented.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE.
THE early founders of the American nation, who sought an
asylum in New England, free from the religious intolerance and oppression of the mother country, declared that they offered a shelter to the "oppressed of every nation." The invitation thus extended by the early pioneers was generous, and how it has been taken advantage of is evidenced to-day by the fact that the United States has a cosmopolitan population.
Those who sought these shores to make homes and become good citizens have been welcomed. They have had the protec- tion of government and have become factors in the upbuilding of the republic. And the open arms and generous freedom which the United States has ever extended to kinsmen over the water are traits that but typify our national characteristics. No sentries have been stationed on crag or promontory to warn off intruders ; 10 large standing army has been maintained in order that the people might exercise all their rights of citizenship. Differences with other nations which have arisen from time to time have been, for the most part, settled by arbitration. Some- times we have had our rights acknowledged, and at others we have acquiesced in unfavorable decisions, that the credit and honor of the nation might be maintained and that peaceful relations might be sustained. No spirit of national aggrandize- ment has been manifest in the history of the United States. The notable wars of this nation have been waged in the name of life and liberty, and for the united country.
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